by Nicole Powers
“I think I won a wet T-shirt contest in college.”
– Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal has much to hide: She’s somewhat pathological when it comes to winning things, has a wet T-shirt attired skeleton rattling around in her closet, and has a proclivity for the sexy bits in Harlequin romance novels. But as The Daily Show’s Senior Women’s Issues Commentator, she was loud and proud in her support of Hillary Clinton for president. Sadly, that didn’t work out so well (though the Secretary of State gig is not such a bad consolation prize).
[..]
By Edward Kelly
Hank and Britt made their promises. For Hank, it was an understanding with his ex-wife that he would move on. He tore down the evidence he had against Ocean Beach’s movers and shakers and put up a new target: the head honcho behind it all. Britt, meanwhile, promised to be a father to his ex-fiancée’s baby, no matter if the kid is biologically his or not. He asked her to wait until he gets out of prison and watch his dog in the meantime. She agrees.
With their personal lives wrapped up, Britt climbs into the beat up truck and Hank drives him to prison. The two, in typical Terriers fashion, joke about not wanting to be late for Britt’s “first day.” As they reach a crossroads, Hank offers a proposition: what if they hang a left, hit the freeway, motor down to Mexico and spend the rest of their days on the lam. All those promises they just made to their respective women and the community at large? Forget ’em. Mexico or prison. Those are the options. And then: end credits.
[..]
by Nicole Powers
“It’s the old ‘penis-and-two-balls’ trick.”
– John Oliver
A lot of wonderful things happened in 1977: punk exploded, Apple was incorporated, Star Wars was released, transatlantic supersonic flights hit commuter airline schedules, smallpox was officially considered to be eradicated –– and John Oliver was born. 2006 wasn’t such a good vintage however, one of the few redeeming features being that it was the year the thinking woman’s bit of crumpet from The Daily Show first joined Jon Stewart’s band of merry not-news men as their Senior British Correspondent, making something that was already truly awesome even more so.
[..]
by Andrea Larrabee
“I’m old fashioned and modern at the same time,” Rachel Federoff tells me at one point during our phone interview. As a key player in the hit Bravo TV show Millionaire Matchmaker – which is now in its fourth and most successful season to date – Federoff must reconcile her intrinsically alternative self with the always outspoken and often very traditional beliefs of her mentor Patti Stanger, who founded the Millionaire’s Club, the elite matchmaking service upon which the show is based.
[..]
by Nicole Powers
“I think it’s a question of vengeance.”
– Leonard Nimoy
The makers of Star Trek can thank their lucky stars that the spacetime continuum isn’t thought to be very continuous these days. The new Star Trek film turns its back on everything that Back To The Future ever taught us about time, and embraces the possibilities of infinite alternate universes that come along with the relatively recent science of string theory.
[..]
by A.J. Focht
Today’s media is overrun with rehashed tales of old myths. It is nearly impossible to come across a fantasy story that doesn’t re-use mythical beings. Vampires, werewolves, and zombies all come from traditional myths and plague our airwaves and book stores; every author is looking for a way to put their own spin on this time tested material.
Some authors are very good at taking traditional myths and adapting them, whereas others should be hanged, drawn, and quartered for their crimes against them. Most myths have grey areas that can be adapted, but they all have their canon – lists of facts and pieces of the myth that cannot be changed without altering that which is intrinsic to it. When an author starts altering these facts they upset the status quo. They weaken not only the fabric of the mythological being – but our ability to suspend our disbelief. This leaves their final product looking like a cheap bastardization of the original.
[..]
by Damon Martin
Imagine the terror of hearing the news that your baby has been kidnapped by an Irish Republican Army operative, and you’re left to deal with the emotional implosion while trying to grasp how exactly you’ll fight, scratch, claw or kill to get your son back.
[..]
